Verstappen warns of 'hectic' home race for Red Bull in Austrian GP

Max Verstappen has warned Red Bull of a potentially "hectic and busy" weekend at its home Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen heads to Red Bull's home track firmly in command of the drivers' championship after banking his seventh win from 10 races last time out in Spain, and has dominated at the Red Bull Ring in recent years. 

He has claimed victory in 2018, 2019, both 2021 races and 2023 and picked up two sprint wins in 2022 and 2023 as well in the Styrian mountains. 

The sprint format returns for the second time in the 2024 season this weekend, with Verstappen keen for the team to be uber-focused from the outset.

"It is another Sprint race this weekend, which always ends up being a hectic and busy weekend for us," Verstappen explained. 

"It is really important to nail the set-up of the car straight away and analyse how best we build and improve on our previous races, especially as qualifying is always close here. 

"The track lends itself to a lot of overtaking so I’m sure it will be an exciting race. The team performed well here last year so hopefully, we can do the fans proud this weekend and bring it home with another win."

The Austrian GP is one that attracts a healthy helping of Verstappen fans, with orange smoke a familiar sight in the grandstands, with the three-time world champion keen to put on a good show.

"We always feel really welcome and enjoy coming back to Austria, being a home race for Red Bull," he added.

"The scenery and mountains around here are great and it is always good to see the Orange Army fans here and really feel that support from the grandstand."